to have anything to eat today. Can you believe it? I'm starving! I'm surprised I haven't passed out from calorie deprivation." She glanced over her shoulder to watch the people filing onto the bus. "You have better luck with your three?"
"They shopped a lot. Pretty standard stuff. Nothing to report." I sighed. Had we wasted an entire day playing Dick Tracey when we might have been doing something constructive like grave rubbings at the Campo Santo, or counting holes in the cathedral wall? Damn.
We boarded the bus and chatted up several people as we took our seats. At 4:05 Duncan navigated the aisle, took a final head count, and stopped to converse with several guests at the front of the bus. At 4:10 he and the driver stepped outside, and while the driver lit up a cigarette, Duncan kicked tires. At 4:15 we were still there.
Jackie peered out the window. "What's the holdup? Mechanical problem? Jeez, we need to get going. If I don't get something to eat soon, I'll have to eat my shoe, and I'm not particularly fond of latex. Too chewy."
I could feel an undercurrent of panic sweep through the bus. "We're going to be late for dinner," I heard Alice Tjarks announce somewhere behind me.
"We're fifteen minutes late," Dick Stolee said to the group.
"Thventeen by my watch," George countered.
I could feel their collective blood pressure rising with the stress.
"Sixteen minutes now," said Dick.
"Twenty!" said Britha Severid, who obviously hadn't adjusted her watch properly for the time change.
Okay, time to find out what was going on. I walked the length of the bus and exited by the front steps. Duncan stood talking on his cell phone, glancing back toward the Field of Miracles. I waited for him to sign off before popping the million-dollar question. "My natives are getting restless. What's up with the delay? Mechanical problem?"
He flashed me a tenuous smile. "Guest relations problem."
"Anything I can help with? Guest relations are my specialty." At least, they were when the guests were still breathing.
"Unfortunately, I may have to take you up on your offer. It seems Gabriel Fox has gone missing."
Chapter 10
WHAT?"
"Mr. Fox is missing. Sylvia Root spoke to him outside the Campo Santo a couple of hours ago, but none of his colleagues have seen him since then."
My heart thumped an odd rhythm in my chest. "Do guests go missing very often?"
"Happens all the time." He flashed me a half smile and winked. "Happened to you on our first outing."
Oh, sure. He had to bring that up.
"Guests get separated from the group. Lose track of time. Don't notice their watches have stopped. Get too far off the beaten path and end up walking in circles. I've seen it all."
"So what do we do?"
"We wait for him."
"You didn't wait for me!"
"You're considered a tour employee. Employees are supposed to be more resourceful than your average traveler."
"But...but...what if I hadn't been resourceful?"
Laughter rumbled in his throat. "Yeah, right." He checked his watch impatiently. "We do have one extenuating circumstance in this case though. If we wait here much longer, it'll affect our travel time back to Florence, which means we might miss our dinner reservations. And if that happens, it won't be pretty."
I'll say. Especially if we had to watch Jackie eat her shoes.
"Landmark prepaid for fifty-three fixed price meals, so they will not be happy if they have to eat that bill."
"So...we leave him?" My guess was, Gabriel Fox was every bit as resourceful as I was.
"Not company policy, but I just checked with the head office, and they suggested a compromise. If someone stays behind to escort Mr. Fox back to Florence when he shows up, the company can avoid litigation for abandonment, mental distress, and pain and suffering."
"Escort Mr. Fox back to Florence...how?"
"By train. The station's a short taxi ride from here, just south of the river. And travel time to Florence is less than an hour. If he shows up within the next thirty minutes, we'd even make it back in time for dinner. So is your offer of help still good?"
"Ummmm...yeah," I hedged, not knowing what I was letting myself in for.
"Great, I'll even give you an option. You can either stay here at the pickup point to wait for Fox, or you can accompany the guests back to Florence. If you opt to head back with the group, remember that dinner reservations are at seven-thirty sharp and people need to dress, so try to impress that upon them on the trip back.